Mmmmmmm....Cookies!

I've been baking up a storm trying to get all of the cookie request filled for our family. I haven't gotten to the chocolate dipped pretzels or the caramel corn yet-maybe that will come next week, and then again maybe not!

 Peanut butter blossoms-they went a little flat because I used a scoop instead of rolling each one into a ball, but they taste the same-so no one minds how they look!

 Cut-outs-just waiting for some frosting and sprinkles!

 Snowballs-my dad's mother's recipe-She's died on Christmas Day 27 years ago-these were my favorites of all the cookies she made every Christmas. I miss her! She never got to meet my boys!

 These are something new I tried. Store bought sugar cookie dough wrapped around a mini snickers bar. In the pictures online-they look like a ball-mine went a little flat (seems to be a repeating theme here doesn't it?!?)

 Usually I make buckeye balls, but this year I decided to try these peanut butter cups instead-they are a keeper! Much easier to make!

 Molasses cookies! The recipe for these comes from my parent's friend PJ-she plays volleyball with us on our co-ed league on Saturday nights.

 These are not usually covered in red and green sugar-usually it is white sugar. They are my mom's recipe called double treat cookies. A peanut butter cookie with peanuts and chocolate chips.

 These are super easy and fun to make! Almond Joy mini candy bars, with mini twist pretzels broken in half, mini marshmallows cut in half, a little black gel frosting and a mini red m & m.

 These were pretty easy too! Square pretzels with a rolo on top and heated in the oven til soft-then smooshed with a pecan.

These are Kevin's favorite-Magic 7 Layer bars. I hate to make them! That's why he only gets them once a year-aren't I a mean wife?!? They are miserable to get out of the pan, even if I line it first!

  Tomorrow I'll be making all the appetizers for Saturday.

Thank You Mary Lou & Jan!

Look!
         What
                    I
                          got!!!

My blog friend Mary Lou read about me wanting to find a vintage aluminum Christmas tree and she knew her friend Jan was wanting to sell hers, so she contacted me and told me how to get a hold of Jan. Then a friend from work who lives near her picked it up for me, and I got it today!!!

Six feet of shiny, vintage awesomeness! I can't wait to put it together!!! Thanks again for thinking of me Mary Lou!!

Ugly Enough?

I don't have much time to uglify our ugly sweaters for the party Saturday-too many other things to do! I just found out our volleyball playoff game that was cancelled two weeks ago, is tomorrow night at 7:30...if we weren't playing short one player already, I would just cancel, but since it is the playoffs...sigh...I don't feel like I can let the team down by not going.

What do you think? Are they ugly enough? any suggestions on something quick I can do to make them uglier?

I pinned on ornaments, rope garland and icicles hanging from the waist on both. Kevin's sweater has a bright blue glittery butterfly on the shoulder!

Skipping chores to go to sales...maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all!

Yesterday I had a date with Adam's best friend's new wife to bake Christmas cookies all day, except she cancelled late Thursday night. She is pregnant (about 14-15 weeks) and is borderline preeclampsia  and because of the high blood pressure, she's been having horrible headaches. Please keep her in your prayers, she is very scared.

Since she cancelled, I decided to try a couple of estate sales. One was in an area known for big expensive homes, but their ad made it sound like there might be some of my kind of junk and I was hoping it might be reasonable...HA! As soon as I walked in and the house was decorated for Christmas and they made me put booties on over my shoes, I should have just turned around and ran back to my car!

The next couple of sales were not really worth the drive either-I got a couple of things, but I am wondering if I might have been better off staying home and baking the cookies!!!

Today there was a sale in Ann Arbor with LOTS of vintage quilts and linens in the photos, so I decided to take a chance and check it out (instead of making cookies and cleaning, and catching up on the week's laundry). I was #29. It was 15 degrees. It was a tiny house. Only 15 in at a time. It was PACKED with stuff. It was by a company who's sales I've shopped many times and they have great prices, but they haven't had any sales with my type of stuff for many months. so, you see, I HAD to go-right?!?

I parked across the street, near a sign that said "No parking M-F 8am-6pm -2hour limit". I figured -"Cool! It's Saturday and I'm not going to be here for 2 hours-I'm good!" I got my goodies, and got out the door and was congratulating myself on my decision to skip my chores to go to this sale as I was driving toward the expressway.

As I picked up speed on the on ramp, I noticed something starting to flap under my wiper....oh noooooo! Yes....I got a parking ticket! How do you get a ticket on a Saturday, when it states M-F? The ticket says it was a no parking at any time zone. Now my deals don't look so good-with the extra $25 I'm going to have to spend to pay the ticket!!

I wonder if the other 12 cars parked in front of and behind me also got tickets? Or maybe my dirty car just stood out (since I live on a dirt road my car is always more dirty or muddy than clean) in the city?

I went on Zillow and looked at a street level view of the street I was on, and found the parking sign...maybe I read it wrong...there are two signs together the top one is the red "P" with a slash the one under says M-F 8am-6pm in green letters...does that mean it is OK to park M-F 8am-6pm? Sigh! What a bummer way to end a fun sale and cast gloom on some good finds!!

Here is what I found yesterday and today...

Seven full aprons, two half aprons, a pink chenille bedspread, 4 vintage tablecloths(one looks to be mint), vintage Christmas curtains with valance, a Christmas card holder, a lingerie box, a folding wooden bed tray, a vintage blue Fiesta covered casserole (mint!) a Little Black Sambo syrup pitcher a Fiesta go-along shaker, an ice crusher, a chichi's chip tin and a wooden bird cage! Whew!

Even with the parking ticket, I still got some great deals. If I was to add the price of the ticket to the casserole, it still would be worth over 4 times what I paid for it.

As I was downloading pictures, someone came in through the sun room and slammed the door-and CRASH! My little red (mint) Pyrex fridgie bit the dust! Now to vacuum it up and get busy with laundry, housework and baking the cookies-not really in the mood now...


It keeps on getting better...just cut my finger picking up the big pieces that the shop vac couldn't get...yep---shoulda stayed home!

Air-vacuate?

This afternoon, both boys wanted to go to Kohl's-one to look for a winter coat, and the other for a pair of khakis for work. We bought "a" coat, but decided to check at Dunham's and Elderbeerman (just down the road a couple blocks distance & right next door to each other) to be sure it was "the" coat.

As we were pulling into the parking lot, I smelled a propane smell and when we got out to walk up to Dunham's the smell was really bad. We were met at the door by the manager who told us he couldn't let us in because they were "evacuating the area" because of a gas main leak and to try back in about an hour.

We got back in our car, and drove through the parking lot and had to wait at the light. As we were sitting there, Eric pipes up from the backseat, "That man is crazy-there's no such thing as an "air vacuum-he can't vacuum the air"!" I thought Adam and I were going to die laughing!! Usually it is me who makes the blonde comments in our family.

We all have had a good laugh about that one all evening! 

Mr. Air-vacuate to the rescue!

What Have We Been Doing?

We've been really busy the last few weeks, trying to get the built-in cabinets for the sun room done in time for the big party for Kevin's co-workers (yikes!). I feel like I could stain and polyurethane in my sleep now!

Kevin thought he would be helpful and stain the second cabinet for me before he put all of the pieces together...unfortunately, he has a heavier hand with the stain and his cabinet came out darker. Fortunately, I have LOTS of vintage goodness to fill the shelves with that hopefully no one will notice!!

 This is the one I stained...

This is the one he stained-in the pictures they look pretty close...

Today he got the crown molding in place, and the trim along the bottom-so we're almost to the finish line!! We just need to get some glass for the outside doors, and hang the doors. I think once they are all done, things will seem a lot less stressful. Having an air compressor and tools, and saw dust all over doesn't make it very easy to clean!

We've been playing volleyball as a family on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and I've been playing in a women's league on Wednesdays (we're in second place!), but everything is winding down now for a couple of weeks. We're going to have so much time on our hands we won't know what to do with ourselves!!

We're both off for the week between Christmas and New Year's -staying home while the boys and their friends go up to my parents-looking forward to a clean, quiet house for a few days!

Today I got to go shopping and wrap presents and got paid for it!! The church I work at does Angel Tree ministry, and this year there was a glitch and 22 names for clothes and toys didn't get to us until yesterday! So, since my work was pretty caught up, I got to go shopping with a coworker. We only had to buy the clothes and gift bags, but we had to sort and wrap clothes and toys. It was so much fun!!! We were done with everything by 2:00.

Then once I got home, I had to go grocery shopping for my family-I'd much rather shop for presents for other people than grocery shop-that's for sure! Now that it's all put away, I get to put my feet up and enjoy some relaxing time-Adam is making dinner! Pretty cool! He's making shrimp scampi and linguini from scratch. We used to play "Emeril" when he and Eric were growing up and they got to cook a lot, but it's a rare treat when either one of them actually wants to plan, shop for and cook dinner!!!

Tomorrow is cookie baking day! Hope you're having a great week!!

Oh Christmas Tree!

I found one!!! I feel like I need to pinch myself-I am just tickled pink!!! It is exactly what I wanted, in excellent shape-the only thing that could have been better would have been if it was a little cheaper.  I've been smiling ever since I was taking it apart and putting it in the box at the mall!

The story gets even better (pinch, pinch, pinch)!!! Last night I got an email from Mary Lou, a blog friend just west of where I live. She wanted to let me know that her friend has a 6' aluminum tree for sale, and would I be interested! It was too late to call last night, and too early to call before work (I start at 7am), so I called her friend after work.

It sounds really amazing! It used to belong to her grandparents! I LOVE that!!! One of my coworkers lives in the area where Mary Lou's friend lives and has offered to pick it up for me-how cool is that?!?  Now I will have a 4' tree in the dining room on the buffet, and what do you think about the new big one right in the middle of the sun room? So you can look at the the vintage-y awesomeness from every side?

Somebody pinch me! I must be dreaming!! Thanks so much Mary Lou for thinking of me! You're awesome!!

I wasn't planning to go to any sales today...

I slept in this morning, and I have a list a mile long of things to do to get ready for the big party for Kevin's co-workers, so I was planning on getting right to work. Then I looked through my emails and saw an interesting sale...I was able to find 2 more within a few miles to make it worth the drive.

I was lucky that it didn't start til 10. I got there about 15 minutes early, and was #30. There was one thing I was extremely interested in, a vintage aluminum Christmas tree. I heard other ladies in line in front of me saying how they have been hitting all the estate sales looking for vintage Christmas stuff, so I thought-it won't even be there when I get in.

I ended up being about #20 to get in because when they opened the doors, a lot of people weren't there. I found the tree, sitting in the box in the living room and since I didn't see a price, I asked...$80! Gulp! Is that high, or am I just cheap? It was a 6' tree, and I am looking for a 3 foot tree for the sunroom for Kevin's party, so I passed it up. I saw a lot of people looking at it, but they all passed it up too.

They had a LOT of stuff in a tiny house. Some prices were good, some were ridiculous. This is what I found:

 Lime green Pyrex baking pan, a couple condiment jars with spoons, 2 Pyrex Cinderella bowls, some ornaments, a light up Jack-o-lantern, some vintage dish towels, a mini Pyrex oval casserole (a quarter!) a glasbake mini casserole with lid some beaded garland, a red basket with a Christmas bow (perfect for napkins for the party!), an amethyst Pilgrim glass vase, and another casserole with lid and wire stand.

 This cute little guy was only fifty cents! He has a JAPAN sticker on the back of his head.

A dirty set of amethyst Moroccan chip and dip bowls.

A chippy white old shelf.

I also found this awesome "ugly" Christmas sweater! At first the lady wanted $4 for it and I said no and set it aside while she added up my other stuff. After I paid and was starting to walk away, I asked if she would take $2 for it and she agreed! I found the guy's "ugly" sweater at Salvation Army, and I stopped at the dollar store and picked up some stuff to ugly it up even more!

I'll show pictures of them after I add the magic from the dollar store! ;)

Tomorrow I'm going to Williamston Antiques Christmas Open House with 3 friends from work. I'm looking forward to just girl time and having some FUN! Hope you have a GREAT weekend! 

Finding the Humor in Life

Do you ever notice how stressed people get about a week before Thanksgiving, and how that stress level creeps higher and higher the closer it gets to Christmas? Some get crabby, some get cranky, some get just down-right nasty! It seems like I've gotten my share of the receiving end of stressed out people the past couple of weeks!

I've been on a mission to stay relaxed, and laugh a lot with a light heart and I am so blessed to have a family who gets my sense of humor and who likes to laugh as much as I do! Last night, my oldest son (Adam) was anxiously waiting for the UPS driver to deliver his order. Part of it was his Christmas present, part of it was some stuff he ordered for himself.

You'd think he was 6 instead of 20 for how anxious he was! What was he waiting for? A new mother board, a tower case, and some RAM-(cue crickets chirping!). So NOT my idea of fun stuff-but he did ask for the mother board for Christmas. As he told me, "Mom, I am 20 years old. I don't need toys anymore,and this is what I really want."

The next step was for him to convince me that it was ok for him to have it now-rather than wait for Christmas!  He opened the tower case and the RAM (the stuff he bought), and after sweating it out for a while, he finally got me to say ok.

When he opened the box, this is what he saw...

LAST FLAP TO AWESOME!

How cool is that?!? We both cracked up when we saw it! Then tonight after dinner we were both sitting on the couch. He was watching TV and I was scouring Ebay for a cheap, ugly Christmas sweater for Kevin's work party's ugly sweater contest.

I came across this picture first...we both cracked up! 

Photo from STL_Vintage on Ebay.

Then a couple more popped up as I scrolled through, and I just had to check out this seller's other items. Some of their poses are hilarious! I bet these guys had a blast making the pictures for their listings! They sure entertained us!

I know, it's silly, but it was funny to see someone actually posing in the item for sale and not just a picture of it hanging on a hanger or laying on a table. I think they are so weird that you can't not look at them! You don't want to look at them, but you can't stop yourself! 

I really want a cheap, cheap, cheap sweater otherwise, I probably would have bought one of theirs just for their creativity! I didn't go through all of their pictures, just a few was enough for a couple of chuckles. I guess I'll try S.A. again tomorrow-they didn't have any yesterday-wish me luck! I need to find something by the 17th!!

A Most Awesome Thank You Gift!

Do you remember a couple of months ago when I went to help my friend Bonnie with her Uncle's estate sale? I didn't do much, just drove out and gave her some advice on what to price stuff at, how to put it out, you know, stuff like that.

Today, she drove up in our driveway just after we pulled in from getting groceries. She jumped out of her car and handed me a grocery bag full of vintage tablecloths! I couldn't help but squeal in delight! They were her grandmother's and she gave them to me as a thank-you gift for helping her with the sale!

I am so blessed! After a really hard and tough week at work-these lovelies made me forget it all!